State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality

The 'State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality' report by the European Climate Neutrality Observatory (ECNO) evaluates the European Union's trajectory toward its 2050 climate neutrality goal using over 100 indicators. While the report finds the EU is generally moving in the right direction, it concludes that the pace of change is insufficient across most sectors, with specific areas like finance and carbon dioxide removals moving in the wrong direction.

• The European Union is generally moving toward its 2050 climate neutrality goal, but the speed of progress is inadequate. While the governance system is considered 'on track', most other building blocks are lagging, and finance and carbon dioxide removals (CDR) are moving in the 'wrong direction'.
• Progress across 13 building blocks varies significantly: three are 'too slow' (electricity, just transition, clean tech) and seven are 'far too slow' (agrifood, mobility, industry, buildings, lifestyles, adaptation, external action) relative to EU requirements for 2050 neutrality.
• In the electricity sector, emission reductions have been achieved through a shift from coal to gas and renewable uptake, but to maintain this, renewable generation must increase from 1.5% to 3.2% per annum. This requires grid extension and policy reforms, particularly for wind energy.
• The mobility sector's transition is deemed 'far too slow', despite record high electric vehicle (EV) sales in 2022 and positive trends in modal shares.
• Agricultural policies are insufficient for climate neutrality, as they have favored intensive animal agriculture and large farms, resulting in rising livestock emissions and fertiliser consumption. The EU currently lacks a detailed plan for this sector.
• Regarding external action, the EU is a leading climate finance donor but fails to meet its 'fair share', and its 'climate bank' continues to provide financing for fossil fuels in other countries.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2023). State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/ecno-state-of-eu-progress-to-climate-neutrality

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality. 2023. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/ecno-state-of-eu-progress-to-climate-neutrality.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality |date=26 June 2023 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/ecno-state-of-eu-progress-to-climate-neutrality |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2023state, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/ecno-state-of-eu-progress-to-climate-neutrality}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }